Chapter 3: On the Edge of Despair


    Though they were not thergest, the Oda n was one of the most powerful factions exercising its influence over the archipgo of Nian. They had a lineage of producing powerful heroes that dated back more than six-thousand-years.


    Were it not for his request to keep his age and body, Nobu would have been the first-born son of the current Patriarch of the Oda n, Oda Senken. Instead, his father was left with no choice but to throw him out as pressure from his political enemies mounted against his First Wife, Suzuki Nana.


    Had Nobu remained in the family, Nana''s position as Head Wife would have been threatened as usations mounted regarding her ability to produce a viable heir. Nobody would dare use Senken, a Rank 7 Mithril Lord, of being the problem, so, when it came to choosing between his crippled son and the woman he loved, Senken chose thetter.


    While the people back on Earth would undoubtedly use Senken of being a terrible father, the majority of Nobu''s memories regarding the man was seeing him grieve over his inability to remove his curse. Senken had apologized to him nearly every single day, and, until the Elders pressured him to stop wasting n resources, the man had spent a fortune searching for a cure.


    Understanding his fault in the matter, Nobu made no attempt to flee back to the Oda n. It had already been eleven years since his exile, and, in that time, his parents had produced two more sons and a daughter. He knew this because the entire province of Owari, the geographical location of the city he was currently living in, was forced to celebrate the birth of every Young Lord and Lady of the main branch of the Oda n.


    Fortunately, while his family had tossed him aside, Nobu wasn''tpletely without options. Prior to his exile, his father had entrusted him to the care of an elderly retainer. They had died around three years ago, but, prior to that, he had been well cared for. As for how he ended up on the streets, you ask? Well, the answer to that was rtively straightforward: human greed.


    Since the elder responsible for his care couldn''t exactly advertise that he was a member of the Oda n, a number of small yet influential families, specifically the Imagawa and Abe ns teamed up to take advantage of him. From their perspective, he was a mysterious outsider with deep pockets, so, after confirming his cultivation base wasn''t a threat, they began levying all kinds of taxes against him in order to drain his wealth. Then, once he couldn''t pay, they sent various lending organizations and thugs to force him into even direr straits.


    In the end, the old man was killed when one of the lending organizations attempted to take Nobu hostage. They found it odd that he had been able to hold out for several years, so, assuming he had a treasure hidden away, they broke into his house and attempted to pressure him for answers. After that, they simply left Nobu to die, but, due to the wealth of treasures he had consumed in his youth, he managed to survive until the present day.


    Nobu knew his survival must have had something to do with the Goddess as it didn''t really make sense to him that they would just leave him be for two years. Fortunately, the old man charged to take care of him had carried on his father''s legacy of talking to him, so, while the thugs had never been able to ascertain the source of his funds, Nobu knew he had been stockpiling funds with the intention of relocating them to a more ''hospitable'' region.


    The only issue with this was that Nobu was currently on the verge of death, so, even if he knew where the man had been stowing away their savings, that didn''t prevent him from crashing face-first into the pavement after running eight of the rural city''s massive blocks. This earned him the attention of several pedestrians, but, the moment they saw how he was dressed, theypletely ignored him.


    Following a few of the closer passersby with his eyes, a pained yet wry smile spread across Nobu''s face as he saw each and every one of him stare with a mixture of pity, disgust, and outright disdain. Despite this, none of them even bothered to ask if he were okay, as, in this particr world, helping others was, more often than not, inviting trouble into your life.


    Crawling to the side of the road, Nobu curled up into a fetal position in a desperate attempt to hold on to the heat his sprint had generated. At the same time, his body habitually hugged the strangely warm stone tablet to his chest, a curious quirk he had apparently had ever since he was a child.


    If his memories could be relied upon, other people didn''t seem to be able to see and interact with the mysterious tablet. This indicated it had something to do with his reincarnation, but, due to the condition of his body, Nobu wasn''t particrly in the mood to experiment. The pain in his stomach had be even worse, and, though he hadn''t taken any hits, he found himself periodically being forced to swallow due to blood and bile rising from his throat.


    Were it not for the fact the frigid temperatures caused the moisture to umte as ice particles on hisshes, passersby would have been privy to seeing Nobu crying for the first time in close to ten years. Thest time was when he heard a heavy crash, and, after going to investigate, he found his mother sprawled out at the base of the stairs with blood pooling near her temple. That singr moment had eclipsed all the pain he had received from being bullied, as, in the weeks leading up to the fall, he had actually been giving his mother the silent treatment.


    Recalling this incident with crystal rity, yet another wry smile developed across Nobu''s lips as he dryly mused, "I wonder if this is what it means to see your life shing before your eyes? I hope the next world...is a little...less...extreme..."


    With memories of his mother waking up at the hospital serving as his shepherd, Nobu allowed his mind to gradually descend into darkness. His vision quickly receded from the periphery, and, for a brief moment, he felt some kind of nauseous ''swelling'' in his mind as a sensation simr to vertigo spread through his entire body. This forced him to remain awake for a while longer, but, with each passing moment, the desire to simply ''let go'' became exponentially more powerful.


    As that thought crossed his mind, Nobu briefly recalled his father, mascara streaming down his face as he wept at his mother''s side. For most, this would have been a rather touching scene, but, due to flying back on the earliest flight from an anime convention, he was still in costume. This earned him the attention of everyone in the hospital, and, though he apologized several yearster, Nobu had never truly forgiven the man for showing up a magical girl during the time he needed his father the most.


    Feeling a tremendous amount of pain and pressure surging from the very core of his being, Nobu''s body lurched as he vomited forth a considerable amount of blood and bile. This frightened a young girl that had been walking by, a startled shriek emanating from her throat as she jumped back more than six meters in an instant.


    Seeing the girl adopt a defensive posture, glowing golden daggers in hand, Nobu forced a smile as he said, "Sorry about that...". Then, with thest of his strength, he did his best to avoid falling face-first into his own blood and bile. He knew someone would have toe by and clean up his body, so, while a part of him wanted others to suffer as much as possible, basic human decent prevented him from being aplete ass in his final moments...


    ---


    Though most people would have simply gone about their business, the young woman, Yoshitsune Yui, had her focus drawn to the eerie ck blood syed out across the ground. Others might not recognize it, but, as one of the few Golden Warriors of her generation, it wasn''t her first time seeing someone expel impurities from their body.


    Noticing the young man hadpletely lost consciousness, the daggers in Yui''s hands gradually melded back into her aura as she walked forward to check his pulse. To her surprise, his pulse was steady and strong despite appearing to be little more than an emaciated beggar. She could even make out the joints of his elbows, knees, and ankles through his clothes, tell-tale signs of extreme malnourishment...


    Furrowing her brows, Yui briefly considered whether or not she should try and help the youth when the words of her Grandmother, the woman responsible for bestowing her name, entered her mind.


    "Listen closely, Yui. Though I don''t expect you to go out of your way to help everyone, it is my hope that you will remain a kind and courageous girl throughout your entire life. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are questioning whether or not you should help someone...trust me when I say you will regret it far more if you did nothing at all..."


    Though the meaning of some words had been lost to time, Yui''s name had always meant ''Helpful Fountain''. It was a name primarily given to second or third daughters of wealthy families with the intention of seeding the mentality that they should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the family. Yui had convinced herself that her talent made her an exception to this rule, so, after staring down at Nobu''s unconscious form for nearly a full minute, she ultimately extended her hand to produce a pale golden aura.


    In the world Nobu had reincarnated to, Cultivation Ranks were derived from various types of metal. The very bottom, unable to produce an aura, was known as the Lead Rank. After that, increasing in power and prestige, were the Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, tinum, Mithril, Orichalcum, Adamantine, and Jadeite Ranks. These were named as such due to the requirement that breaking through into said rank required a tremendous amount of the respective ore.


    While it was possible to increase your Cultivation Base without advancing to the next Rank, the ability of ''Aura'' to adopt the properties of different metals was too great a benefit to ignore. As one of the only sub-twenty Golden Warriors in all of Nian, Yui had mastered the basics of manipting and even shaping her aura to produce remarkably versatile weapons. In this particr instance, she used it to fashion a solid gold yet extremely flexible rope, tying it around Nobu''s chest and arms so that she could drag him away. Thetter currently smelled like he hadn''t taken a bath in years, so, while she might have decided to help him, there was no way in hell she was going to carry him on her back...


    Though the sight of a young woman dragging an unconscious man through the streets garnered a lot of attention, it wasn''t to the point that anyone would attempt to stop her. The color of the rope was more than enough justification to steer clear of the beauty, as, more often than not, young and highly skilled people were secretly escorted by the Elders of their Sect. They couldn''t even imagine a girl as young and attractive as Yui would be conducting her ''Warrior''s Pilgrimage'' on her own, so, the moment she came anywhere near them, most people made sure to give her a very wide berth...